The hardest FHIR questions aren’t technical — that’s why we created the Strategy Forum
Technology isn’t the bottleneck, strategy is
In the world of FHIR, we are very good at solving technical problems. The community that gathers every year at DevDays is proof of that. Brilliant implementers, passionate developers, and dedicated standards experts who consistently push the boundaries of what’s possible with interoperability.
But here’s what I keep seeing across organizations: The hardest problems aren’t technical anymore. FHIR adoption is no longer the differentiator. Most organizations have APIs in place. Mandates have been met. Interfaces exist. And yet, many are still struggling to turn that foundation into something meaningful.
The questions keeping healthcare leaders up at night
These are the conversations happening behind closed doors:
- How do you justify continued investment in FHIR when leadership feels like “we already did that”?
- How do you move from compliance to something that actually drives value?
- How do you govern data across teams, business units, and partners — when no one owns it end-to-end?
- How do you prepare your data foundation for AI when it wasn’t designed with that in mind?
These aren’t questions you solve in a sprint planning session. They don’t get answered by choosing the “right” implementation guide or tweaking an API. They’re leadership questions.
Why we created the Strategy Forum
This is why we created the HL7 FHIR Strategy Forum. A day built for leaders.
On Monday, June 15, the day before FHIR DevDays officially kicks off in Minneapolis, we’re bringing together a group of healthcare leaders for a focused, high-level day of strategic dialogue.
This day exists because the most valuable conversations we’ve seen are happening in smaller groups, between people who are all trying to solve similar problems from different angles. It’s interactive by design: moderated panels, small group discussions, and time built in for real conversation.
You won’t just sit and listen, you’ll move between tables, meet peers across payers, providers, and vendors, and hear how others are approaching the same challenges. Because at this stage, the value isn’t just in the content. It’s in the perspective.
What we’ll actually talk about
The agenda is built around the topics that keep coming up in real conversations:
Your biggest FHIR risk isn’t technical — what governance, organizational buy-in, and internal positioning actually look like in practice, and where things tend to break down.
From compliance to capability — once you’ve met the mandate, what can you build on top of it, and how do you make sure it’s sustainable.
Interoperability as strategy — what it means to treat FHIR as infrastructure, not a project, and how that changes funding, ownership, and long-term planning.
And finally: AI readiness — what “AI-ready” actually means when it comes to your data, and what needs to be in place before any of that becomes real?
The people in the room
The day opens with Martine Berden, CEO of Firely, and Rachel Dunscombe, CEO of HL7 International. Two leaders who understand better than most what it takes to make healthcare data work at scale. For the rest of the day, we’ve brought together a remarkable lineup of voices across strategy, policy.
Michael Westover leads the keynote and first panel. Drew Ivan, Chief Architect at Rhapsody, joins him for the opening session. The afternoon panel brings together Marc Overhage, CEO of CSRI, and Denise St. Clair, Vice President of Health Policy and Interoperability at Global Alliant.
To close out the day, we’ve got the AI readiness roundtable featuring Don Rucker, Chief Strategy Officer at 1upHealth and former National Coordinator for Health IT, and Karen Mandlebaum, Senior Legal Counsel at Epstein Becker & Green, moderated by Dan Vreeman of HL7 International.
These are people who have navigated the complexity from the inside. And they’ll be sitting at the same tables as you.
Why this moment matters
Over the past couple of years, something has shifted. FHIR is no longer new. It’s expected. APIs are no longer the goal, they’re the starting point. At the same time, AI has created a new level of urgency around data quality, access, and governance.
And a lot of organizations are realizing the hard part isn’t checking the compliance box. It’s building a long-term strategy that actually delivers return on the work they’ve already done.
Because once the APIs are live, the real questions start: What else can this support? How do we reuse it? How do we make it sustainable?
The Strategy Forum exists because these questions deserve serious, collaborative, senior-level attention. Not a webinar. Not a whitepaper. A real conversation, with real peers, in a setting designed to go deep.
Registration is open now
The Strategy Forum is a one-day event taking place on June 15 in Minneapolis, just before FHIR DevDays. It can be attended on its own or alongside the conference. If you’re responsible for, or influencing, the direction of interoperability in your organization, this is a chance to step out of day-to-day execution and think more strategically alongside others doing the same.
Early bird pricing is $695, with a $100 discount for HL7 members. Prices increase after May 22.